Our view: Shows won with class

Apr. 15, 2014

Don Shows was both envied and respected. He was respected as a coach and role model. He was envied for the success of his West Monroe Rebels who, so often, left the field with another victory. Every school would have loved to have that kind of success.

The legacy Shows left when he died Monday after battling health problems for a year speaks for itself. He led teams to eight state titles, all at West Monroe, and coached 14 state championship appearances, all but one with the Rebels. His overall coaching record was 345-78 in 32 season at West Monroe, Pineville, Jonesboro-Hodge and Farmerville, making him the fourth-winningest coach in state history.

Shows was inducted into the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame in 2011.

After a dizzy spell on the sidelines because of high blood pressure, a concussion suffered on the field when he was unable to get out of the way of a tackle and a stroke, Shows stepped down as head coach in May but stayed on as the West Monroe athletic director. He hoped for a chance to coach again, but that would not happen.

If you judge a coach by his win-loss record, no question Shows was a champion, indeed legendary. A high school, coach, however, is tasked with not only filling in the X’s and O’s of the playbook but also filling out the personalities and maturity of the players in his charge.

Shows did that equally as well.

“We all know how great he was, not just as a coach but as a human being. He’s done some incredible things and the pride that he’s brought to West Monroe and the school system has been amazing,” Ouachita Parish Superintendent Bob Webber said.

And then there’s this from LSU head coach Les Miles: “It was the positive impact on the lives of the young men that he coached and the relationship that he had with his players that made him so special. He’s going to be missed.”

In the end, the players he molded with confidence and class will be the lasting legacy for Shows.

“He always taught us to play with class, win or lose,” said former quarterback Bobby Breen.

This Friday, at the football field that now bears Shows’ name, a memorial service will bring fans and players together to remember the coach.

It will be spirited and uplifting, the way he coached. And, we suspect, we’ll leave feeling like a winner.

The editorials in this column represent the opinions of The News-Star’s editorial board, composed of President and Publisher David B. Petty, Executive Editor Kathy Spurlock and community representatives Lionel Crowell, Nancy Inabnett and Jay Marx.